Do You Recognize These Iconic '70s Toys?

The answer is 'Erector Set'. An Erector Set (the trademark has always been "ERECTOR") is a brand of metal toy construction sets, originally patented by Alfred Carlton Gilbert and first sold by his company, The Mysto Manufacturing Company of New Haven, Connecticut in 1913. In 1916, the company was reorganized as the A.C. Gilbert Company. Erector consists of various metal beams with regular holes for assembly using nuts and bolts. Other mechanical parts such as pulleys, gears, wheels, and small electric motors were also part of the system. What distinguishes construction sets like Erector (and its predecessor Meccano), is the ability to build a model, then take it apart and build something else, over and over again. Erector quickly became the most popular construction toy in the United States, most likely because it was the only construction set at the time to contain a motor. Erector was commonly referred to as an Erector Set, though erector set has become somewhat of a generic trademark denoting a variety of construction toys, irrespective of brand. The trademark for ERECTOR is today owned and marketed by Meccano.